Will you work 70 hours a week? Tech figure Narayana Murthy's remark sparks debate

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Infosys founder Narayana Murthy’s latest remarks about the Indian workforce have prompted a debate about work-life balance and fair pay. Murthy, who appeared on the first episode of 3one4 Capital’s podcast ‘The Record’, spoke about leadership, governance, and national growth. The podcast was hosted by former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai.

In the podcast, released on YouTube on Thursday, the 77-year-old businessman argued that India’s productivity is the lowest in the world. He continued: “Unless we improve our work productivity, unless we reduce corruption in the government at some level, because we have been reading, I don't know the truth of it, unless we reduce the delays in our bureaucracy in taking this decision, we will not be able to compete with those countries that have made tremendous progress.”

He added: “So, my request is that our youngsters say, ‘This is my country. I’d like to work 70 hours a week.”

A 70-hour work week means working more than 11.5 hours a day for six days, barring Sunday. His comments have received mixed reactions from people on social media.

In favour of Murthy’s idea

Bhavish Aggarwal, the CEO of Ola Cabs, was among the first to share his thoughts. Speaking in favour of Murthy’s idea, he wrote: “Totally agree with Mr Murthy’s views. It’s not our moment to work less and entertain ourselves. Rather it’s our moment to go all in and build in 1 generation what other countries have built over many generations!”

People question a healthy work-life balance

At the same time many, including film producer Ronnie Screwvala, opposed Murthy's idea and advocated for a healthy work-life balance.

Screwvala said: “Boosting productivity isn't just about working longer hours. It's about getting better at what you do — upskilling, having a positive work environment and fair pay for the work done. Quality of work done > clocking in more hours”.

People also highlighted that most employees at big companies already work extra hours without appropriate compensation.

A user said: “Narayan Murthy expects youngsters to work 70 hours per week but will pay freshers peanuts in return. No wonder people from the IT field do moonlighting.”

Another person pointed out the legality of working 70 hours per week. “Law limits work to 48 hours a week, but he wants 70. If we exclude Sundays, that's a gruelling 12 hours a day. Dear Narayan Murthy, if youngsters work 12 hours daily, who will embrace your technology? It's time for your retirement; otherwise, Infosys faces a natural demise.”